


95: Something Borrowed

by TheLastFounder



Series: Master of Nothing [13]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender, Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Embedded Images, F/F, F/M, Fix-It, Harry Potter is EVERY Avatar, Heavily relies on lore from my series, Immortality of a sort, Intended to Have Loose Ends, Jackpot Explains a little bit, Master of Death Harry Potter, Master of Nothing, Mentioned Korra (Avatar), Mystery Character(s), Not Beta Read, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Recommended to Read Life 80 First, Reincarnated Harry Potter, Reincarnation, Slowly Updated, Tarot, Will Feature Snippets of Past Avatars, part of a series, we die like heroes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-16
Updated: 2020-06-27
Packaged: 2021-03-04 02:15:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,555
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24745942
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheLastFounder/pseuds/TheLastFounder
Summary: After sixteen thousand years, the Avatar of Death, near the end of his immortal journey, is met by a different entity than per usual. With a universe doomed due to his past actions, the being once known as Harry Potter can only accept to try to and avert what he has caused.Infused with the power of Light and the elements, he will take on a task of centuries to save the world.To be the Avatar, of a second cosmic being...To live 183 lives in this new world...He had really been looking forward to his retirement...
Relationships: Other Relationship Tags to Be Added
Series: Master of Nothing [13]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1079328
Comments: 7
Kudos: 73





	1. The Boy Who Would be Death

**Life 95: Something Borrowed**

* * *

I wasn’t often confused in this line of lives I lived, as over sixteen-thousand years often gives one insight beyond any others. 

However, upon death, I was not sent ahead to the next life in my cycle, nor was I in the familiar void of Death’s own realm. 

Instead, I awoke to a serene garden of light, the warm and inviting sun smiling down on me as I ran a hand across my face.

Unfamiliar features, only beaten out by dark locks that fell around me, a presence registering beside me being my only indicator of my purpose here. 

However, no such person existed, empty air being all that I saw as my eyes narrowed in search. 

“I know you’re there, whatever you are. Why did you bring me here?” I asked aloud then, my eyes critical as I felt for life signatures around me, only finding a strange spiritual sense. 

It wasn’t human, or even an immortal, more like a cosmic being akin to Death or Life, and it had brought me here… 

“Avatar of Death, I speak to you now to ask of your aid. I am known as Raava, I am the embodiment of Light within the multiverse, and I come to you of desperation.” 

A voice that spoke from everywhere at once, a glowing being that suddenly appeared in the form of a white serpent, and this odd sense of warmth within my spirit.

It had been some time since I met a Cosmic aside from Death, the last being Limbo, and he had died some time ago.

However, I wondered over what would cause her to need my aid so badly that she would disrupt Death’s cycle, the last being brave enough having been Etro ages ago. 

“I shouldn’t give you the chance, but your need must be great if you actually brought me here… What is it that you need… Raava.” I asked of the being then, having decided to be diplomatic in this sense, as my instincts told me that there was a great imbalance surrounding Raava.

“Like Death and Life, I too have an Avatar that aids me on the mortal planes, but my counterpart, Vaatu, has severed my hold to them permanently. The universe of which I watch over needs my Avatar, they rely on them, and I shall not allow Vaatu to win.” Raava explained as images appeared behind the spirit, of men and women with glowing eyes, a world burning as a malicious shadow stalked the land, and finally of a young woman slowly dying on the ground as it loomed over her.

“Vaatu… He’s Amara’s replacement, isn’t he?” I asked them as I recalled the aftermath of Chuck’s trial, the days of burning skies that had emerged before a new balance had been found. 

“If you refer to the Darkness, then yes, Vaatu did take her place. I would have taken the Fallen God’s position to rival Vaatu, but it was not mine to take.”

That explained Jack’s spurred actions, and the aftermath of it all. Course my son inadvertently puts an entire universe in jeopardy, chip off the old block… 

“Alright, I see your situation here, and I apologize for my son making your job harder, but what do you want me to do? Kill Vaatu?” 

I wasn’t against that however, as I had killed several Cosmics and Gods by this point in my existence, and besides, Amara wouldn’t have wanted her powers used for evil. It was the least I could do for her, prevent her successor from destroying worlds. 

“While that once would have worked, Vaatu now exists beyond mere reality, he can not die. I beg of you, Avatar of Death, to travel to long before my defeat, and to prevent it from ever happening.” Raava begged of me then as her voice burned its way through my mind, images and places flashing before my eyes as I saw millennia fly through me in a flash.

I saw flames of creation, oceans that swallowed worlds, storms that razed the Earth, and giant quakes that tore through civilizations.

And a great darkness that shadowed over it all, that was responsible for it all, and the feeling of glee it held as its tendrils of terror consumed lives. 

However, that all led back to what she asked.

“Time travel… I don’t advise it, I’ve done my part in the sphere of time… I’ve seen what happened, but how do you expect me to fix this?” I asked of her in turn as I narrowed my eyes at the image of that girl, facing off against a man imbued with Vaatu’s essence, an emptiness within her that should have shone with Raava’s light. 

An unjust death, the power within me spoke. She was to survive that encounter and live for many more years, but her flame had been snuffed out. 

“I have come to terms with your master, and Death’s cycle has been frozen. I shall imbue you with my strength, and you shall take the place of the first of my children. When his death comes, you shall continue as his successor, and then onward from there, until the moment you foresaw. Use the centuries before you to build strength, to master your new abilities, and to prevent Vaatu from ever gaining a host of his own.” 

I saw flashes then of these figures of hers, her own Avatar and their different lives… and I knew I had to accept.

If Death in his state had agreed to this, then I knew there was a reason behind Raava’s request, of why Death wished for me to do this as his existence began to fade. 

But I had to know.

“You say centuries… how many lives must I live for you?” 

I had lived ninety-four lives thus far, an eternity for a pseudo-immortal, and I wasn’t up for another eternity, my time having almost been up after all.

“I know of your history, and I know of your aspirations, but I beg that you accept my plea, all shall go faster than you would believe, and the cycle shall be different from yours. Your memories of each Avatar would be disjointed, you will hardly notice the time spent in each.”

“How many Avatars?” I reiterated, demanding to know how much longer I would have to carry on in her realm, and how quickly I could return to finish Death’s cycle.

And the thing about memories? That sounded cryptic as all hell, would I not remember what happened?

“One-hundred and eighty-three.” 

I took a breath. 

“Oh fuck right off.”

* * *

_Water. Earth. Fire. Air._

_My grandmother used to tell me stories about the past of this world, of the eras of peace ushered forth by the mystical Avatar, and of the balance between the nations. However, long ago the previous leader of the Fire Nation felt threatened by the Avatar, and knowing the next in the cycle was to be an Air Nomad, he laid siege to Airbenders as a whole._

_He destroyed their temples, burned their histories, and killed all of their benders, aside for one._

_The Avatar of that era had been outraged, and seeking revenge went after the Fire Lord, his intent to end the war once and for all._

_Many hoped and prayed that the young Avatar would be victorious, only for him to fall in battle…_

_A hundred years of oppression began from his loss, and the Fire Nation started a war of conquest against the other Nations._

_In the century since, people have held hope that the Avatar would return, that the balance would be brokered anew, and good would prevail over evil._

_That the Avatar would finally defeat the Fire Nation, and the Fire Lord that had followed his old enemy._

_But nothing emerged from him, and all out war spread across the nations._

_Some people believe that the Avatar is dead, that because of the extinction of the Air Nomads the Cycle is broken and the Avatar gone forever._

_I don’t believe that, and I still hold hope that this will all end someday, that the Avatar will return to save us all._

_That the cycle could begin anew._

* * *

**Book One: Crescent Tides**

****

* * *

**Avatar: 182. Airbender**

**99 AG (After the Genocide)**

**The South Pole**

* * *

The world was quiet aside from the roar of the vapids, their breaths catching in the air as their search continued.

The canoe drifted swiftly forward as they continued on, the boy’s spear held aloft and ready as his eyes drifted, the girl’s attention fading as his smile grew broad.

“It’s not getting away from me this time!” The boy cried aloud as his companion just nodded her head absently as he looked through the water’s depths.

“Watch and learn Katara! This is how you catch a fish.” 

The tone he used was one she had often heard, her brother attempting to prove his worth to her, despite the fact he had never needed to.

They were born of the Southern Water Tribe, a peaceful people that used their talents to abide by nature and exist upon the land like the figures of old, but her brother had always been resentful. They had come from a line of ancient warriors, all with a particular talent, Waterbending.

Complete and utter control over water itself, they used their powers to guard their people and their allies to fight against tyranny.

Sokka, as her brother, had always dreamed of being like their father and ancestors, warriors and heroes.

Katara had dreamt of being a healer, a mystic lending aid to the people and living off the land in tranquility.

And yet, she of the two had been born with Bending, and her brother had always held a resentment of her for that.

He made no secret of it, and they had moved past it over the years, however she knew his eyes hardened whenever she bended around him. 

Her eyes went wide then as a water serpent brushed past their canoe, her arms flying back as she moved away from the beast.

“Sokka, look!” She cried out at him as she pulled him back, the fast moving creature stalling in it’s journey as she swore it was watching them.

“A Water Serpent, here?! We have to catch it Katara, they’ll never believe it!” Sokka yelled out then as he picked up an oar and began to bring them closer to the beast, his eyes narrowed as the water serpent took off into the waters now that it was followed.

Katara tried to persuade him to let it go, it being large enough to swallow them whole, yet her brother insisted upon it as they soared through the waters.

Knowing that he wouldn’t turn back around until either they caught the serpent or it escaped them, she subtly bended the waters around them to speed up their vessel. 

Katara took note of their travels as they pursued the beast, her brother’s eyes hungry as they followed it deeper into the unknown of the glaciers, the ice around them breaking apart as they ventured further from their usual hunting grounds.

Unknown to her brother, she had more than once stirred the cameo away from the mountainous glaciers, saving their lives several times already. 

And yet Sokka had eyes only for the serpent, and no doubt the prestige he would gain for killing it.

The first Water Serpent hunted in the South Pole since the days of Avatar Kuruk.

It would be history, and her brother wished to be a part of it.

Water and ice flew around them as she surged them even faster after the beast, the water serpent seemingly beginning to tire as it slowed it’s pace, and Sokka’s smile grew.

“I almost have it!” He cried out to her, his hunting spear in hand as he took aim at the beast, it’s wary eyes meeting hers as her brother stood in the boat.

“Sokka, just let it go!” She begged of him then, getting a bad feeling in her gut as she stared at the pleading gaze of the serpent, and she felt… something around them begin to pick up.

The winds buffeted them like no other time, a storm on the horizon seeping through the skies as the world around them began to grow dark.

“I got it, trust me!” Sokka yelled back at her in turn, his spear pointed right at the head of the fleeing Serpent, it’s eyes a pale silver as it looked at Katara like it was judging her.

“Sokka, leave it!” She cried out then as she surged forward to try and take the spear from him, but to her horror she was far too late.

With a cry of war, her brother sent the spear flying after the beast, and his mark hit true and the serpent’s form went still as death throes sent it sailing onward.

Her brother’s smirk only grew as the beast finally stopped, it’s body colliding with an iceberg as it finally slowed to a stop.

With haste, Sokka took up both of the oars and began to bring them to a close next to the beast’s form, the head of the serpent had met with the ice and left cracks in its wake.

And yet, all Katara could see was the pleading gaze of it as it had begged her to stop her brother.

Despite all of her power, she still could do nothing but watch him kill it.

With a wild smile, Sokka strode from the canoe and onto the glacier as he approached it, but Katara could glare at him.

“I told you to let it go! You just killed what’s likely the last Water Serpent in the Arctic!” She screamed at him then as he paused in his movements, her brother only glaring right back at her in turn.

“What are you talking about? This is huge! I killed a Water Serpent, they gotta let me fight now!” His eyes said angrily as he stood closer to the dead beast than to his sister, his hand resting on the spear impaled in it’s eye, his eyes harsher than she had ever seen them.

“That’s all you care about these days. Going with Dad and fighting the Fire Nation, and you don’t even realize what’ll happen…” Katara bit back at him then she stepped onto the ice, her eyes full of a fire so drastically apart from the calm she normally exuded.

“What’ll happen… You think I’ll die…” Sokka whispered coldly to her then as his eyes lit up in turn, the spear being pulled from the beast as he did, the tip of it glistening with the serpent’s blood as droplets of scarlet fell to stain the ice. 

“They can shoot fire from their fingertips, and you have a Boomerang... What do you think will happen Sokka?” She asked him then as her mood rumbled, her brother just looking at her in rage as he gripped the spear harder, his eyes steely.

“The Fire Nation are the enemy, it’s our duty to fight them! I know you keep thinking the Avatar is going to appear in a puff of smoke to save us all, but that’s all in your head! Only we can stop them!” Sokka cried out fanatically then as she could only let out a screech of rage then, her eyes blazing at him as his face fell.

“Ever since mom died, all you’ve been wanting to do is run and get yourself killed! I’ve worked day and night for the tribe as you prepare for a war you’ll never win!” Katara screamed at him then as she got closer to him, her hands flying forward in anger as he stepped back from her, his feet stumbling over the form of the serpent as he went.

“What are you even talking about?! I’ll have Dad there, and you’ve seen him fight! We’ll be unstoppable!” He argued back at her as he held his spear with both hands clenched, his eyes furious as he believed his sister thought him weak for his inability to bend.

For ages he had been mistreated and looked aside for his lack of waterbending, his sister being the shining apple of their father’s eye as even through his training, Sokka had never compared to her.

“You’re a child Sokka! You can’t even beat me when I waterbend, how do you expect to face an army that can burn you alive before you can even throw your stupid boomerang?!” She screamed back at him as she stood before the creature’s form now, the cracks in the ice behind her as she unknowingly clenched her fist, the waters around them going violent as the storm began to rage on. 

“You just think you’re better than me, with your weird powers! If you’re so great, you defeat the Fire Lord then!” Sokka growled out as he absentmindedly took a swing at her then, his intention not to harm her, but merely to spar as they used to, to prove that he was strong enough to fight their eternal enemies.

He didn’t expect for her to dodge out of the way, his spear flying out of his hand and impaling itself into the iceberg just as swiftly as it had to the serpent.

To their combined shock, the spear buried itself into the cracks, the entire glacier shaking as a loud shattering noise began to build around them.

“Sokka, look what you-” Katara tried to argue back at him then in anger, only to freeze as fear filled their collective gazes, and a light began to emit from within the glacier before streaking off across the ice like a rat, leaving a burning streak through the surface. 

“What the…?” He asked in turn then as they both watched the light travel forward, his tone lost all of its heat and they could only wonder what they had set off.

“Sokka-”

It was then that the entire world shifted around them, the glacier shattering to pieces as a large form appeared under the distant waters… 

And a spherical iceberg broke the surface, it’s giant form breaking through the water as the structure rose from the depths like a cursed island from tales of old.

Silent, the two siblings crept across the thin ice and to the iceberg with shallow steps, their eyes wide as they neared and saw a dark mass within the ice.

The silhouette of a person, lodged within and frozen, a dark mass hovering over it protectively as they approached.

Curious and a little frightened, Katara stepped closer as she looked to the person within, the figure of a young boy clear to see from within the ice, his form panicked as if he had been falling when he had frozen.

“Katara, wait… This could be a trap or… or something left here from the Fire Nation… or-” Sokka tried to argue to her as he tried to grab at her shoulder, but his words were cut off as their hearts stopped at the same time.

The boy in the iceberg opened his eyes, a blinding white light emanating from within him as he stared back at them. 

“He’s alive! We have to help him!” Katara yelled out in panic then, quickly pulling free the club from her brother’s back as she surged forward, her brother failing to catch her as she ran for the iceberg. 

With fear in his gaze, Sokka could only watch as his sister bashed away at the ice, the frozen figure of the boy only watching as she went.

Cracks appeared with every hit, the ice cracking and falling away from her fury, but just as the club began to splinter, she broke through the surface of the ice.

And an explosion of flames blasted them back, a burning light firing off into the sky as a pained scream echoing out into the storm. 

A vortex of flame swallowed the boy’s body as he screamed to the heavens, his eyes shining like spotlights in the blaze. 

Now covered in the melted remains of the ice, both brother and sister slowly pulled themselves to their feet as they looked at the boy who had emerged as the flames died out.

Clothed all in black, unmarked robes and with glowing eyes, they could only marvel at his youth, and the flames roaring from his body.

Above and around him, they noticed a mass of red scales, and could only freeze in terror as it shook itself free of the ice that had clung to it.

The boy stood before them with a dragon, the beast’s eyes furious and burning as it proceeded to move towards them slowly. 

Their breaths caught in their throats at the motion, and only watched as the boy crept towards them like his dragon had, his hands flaming as a look of rage came over his thin face.

Holding a fist of fire towards Sokka, the boy gave out only a single growl of question as the flames began to sear the furs around Sokka’s neck. 

**“Where is Sozin?”**

* * *

**Avatar: 181… Firebender**

* * *

“Without you, all my plans are suddenly possible. I have a vision for the future Roku… and you aren’t in it.” My old friend spoke those cold and lifeless words then, the fires and gas around us igniting as Reke swooped down from the skies, Sozin climbing aboard his most loyal ally as he merely watched me struggle on the ground, the gas filling my lungs as I felt that familiar chill in my bones… The end of this Avatar had arrived.

“I… will return for you Sozin… I’ll make you pay…” I coughed out through burning lungs then, my eyes taking on a blue glow unbeknownst to me. and I looked at Sozin for the last time with these eyes.

“I endeavor you to try.” 

And with that, he flew off into the night, and I was alone.

Or so I thought, as I saw Fang’s familiar form gliding through the air to me, the buffets of fire approaching.

However, I just shook my head as I locked eyes with my familiar, my gaze stern and unmoving as the dragon met my eyes with a sad energy, but he understood.

“Leave me, Fang... There is more to be done by you, my friend...” 

And before I could see my familiar leave me, the darkness set in once more. 

_“I shall see you again, Avatar.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have about five different stories that I have envisioned since I abandoned Chosen Again. This was the one that spoke out to me the most.  
> A reminder, this takes place after Jackpot and the Death plotline featured there.  
> Essentially, Death is dying and after Harry has finished his work as his Avatar, Harry is set to become the new Death.  
> While Jackpot is not finished, this does pick up off the back of that one, even though this is 15 lives and roughly 9000 years after Jackpot.  
> Likely, this and Aigle Aigle Doré will be my main focuses for the moment, aside from my new job.  
> Also, thank you all that left such lovely comment on Chosen Again, I needed the support. <3  
> And as well, I won't be posting this story on FF, and I'm not quite sure if future chapters of my other stories will even up on FF.  
> Things are in flux right now.  
> -Oscar


	2. Pyre

**Life 95: Something Borrowed**

* * *

**99 AG**

**East of the South Pole**

* * *

The waters themselves fought their forward assault of the domain, but the Fire Nation was unabashed in their momentum.

Spurred onward onto a mission of vast importance, the nation’s best and most deadly set forth in a brigade to bring to order the greatest enemy to the Fire Nation to ever exist.

One thought long dead, and that for a century was assumed to never return to darken their nation’s future, yet it was not to be as they hoped.

Yegi of the Fire Sages had broken apart in mind and in spirit on a darkened moon, screaming for the Fire Lord’s attention, for anyone that would listen.

The Sage, maddened by his visions of the future, spoke of immortality and worlds filled with horrors belonging to their worst nightmares, and proclaimed their greatest adversary alive… 

The Avatar… lived.

The Fire Lord was not a believer of the vision, believing that the Avatar would have shown himself long ago, would have finished what he had started, not merely run from conflict.

There was also turmoil there. 

If Fire Lord Ozai refused to search for the Avatar, and the vision was proven true, then he would be looked upon as a fool fitting to be dethroned.

But if he searched for him, and they discovered the Avatar lived? Then it meant that Ozai came from a family of failure, as his grandfather’s greatest achievement had been his claim to have killed not one, but two separate Avatar.

The Avatar could not have been reborn, as next in the cycle was Water, and they had kept a keen eye on the tribes.

Which meant that the previous Avatar, that of the Air Nomad Anarchist, had survived the assault laid upon him by Fire Lord Sozin… Which would mean that Ozai was the grandson of a liar… and he refused to accept that.

At risk of dishonor from either incompetence of his own or his grandfather’s, Ozai decided that he would face a fruitless search of the Avatar, and potentially proving his grandfather to have lied to their Nation, rather than allow the Avatar to return to prominence when he could have acted to stop him… 

So, in the height of the Hundred-Year-War, he sent forth Commander Raoh, a Magma-Bender of the highest caliber, and a loyal member of Ozai’s court for some time.

Raoh had accepted the direction of the Fire Lord, and had studied the brief history of Sozin, of what he could find.

Raoh had been puzzled at the time, of why one of the greatest of Fire Lords had such a sparse public history, only snippets of his childhood in the Burned Archives, and the exploits from the war could be found.

Raoh wasn’t a dull or even moronic man, and knew he was looking into matters that he was better off not knowing, and was intrigued by the idea of a conspiracy.

“How long until we arrive Iroh?” Raoh asked of his companion as they stood atop their vessel, the Terasu striding through the waters with all the fury of an iron titan as the frozen shores of the Southern Water Tribe came into view.

“I would say not long Commander, the waters are beginning to wane…” Iroh, his loyal companion and advisor, of who he would not leave without. 

Raoh had met Iroh not long before his retirement, having served alongside Lu Ten and their battalion in the heat of battle, Raoh had been surprised by Iroh’s decision to step down, but had grown fond of the man and his son. 

Raoh had also grown accustomed to the man’s company and witticisms, and had begged him to return to active duty, only getting him to agree to an advisory role.

Now, Commander Raoh and his staunch and furious men hunted a living legend in the frost beyond the Fire Nation’s eyes.

And a part of Raoh dearly hoped whatever Avatar they would find would not be the Nomad, rather a Waterbender that fell out of their reach.

He would much rather fight a Tribal rather than the Avenging Avatar… 

“Men, inc-“

Raoh had meant to command them to sail faster, that he wanted to reach the village by morning… 

When the storm exploded into motion around them, the ice of the glaciers passed them by, all illuminating a menacing crimson as a beam of flaming light shot off into the sky, the heavens lit by a scarlet glow.

The men stood shocked and silent, their eyes wild as the Terasu slowed to a crawl amidst the glowing glaciers, the sea around them even falling silent as they drifted onward.

“Iroh… is that what I think it is…?” Raoh asked of his oldest friend, the elder’s eyes lidded as a small and unnoticeable smile spread across his lips.

Iroh had waited a long time for this day.

“Something long awaited Raoh...” Iroh said with a smile as he returned to his table, the cards atop it unbothered by the waves, his eyes falling on the covered pile.

Drawing one from the top of the pile, his smile grew as Raoh could only stare off into the distance. 

“So it’s true then?” Raoh asked of the man, his beliefs shaken as this day could finally give to him the answers he had sought for so long. 

“Oh yes, the Avatar has returned.”

* * *

**Avatar: Aang**

* * *

“I will repeat myself only once, where. Is. Sozin?” I asked of the boy before me, his eyes wide with fear as I took notice of the spear he wielded with some experience, but not nearly enough to be a valid threat.

A girl stood beside him, young and wise looking with warm eyes, but she oddly carried a broken club in defense.

How odd, but not nearly as odd as whatever had happened to me… 

I hadn’t had much time in this life as Aang, having been ushered into training as soon as the Air Nomads had realized that I was the Avatar, which had honestly been a relief. Over twenty-thousand years of being reborn constantly, one got sick of pretending to be a child when they’ve at one point or another wielded powers fierce enough to reshape the whole nature of reality to their whim.

I had resisted the urge each and every time, but how often I regretted my morals.

“D-do you mean, Fire Lord Sozin?” The girl asked of me then with concerned eyes, obviously worried about the flames at the boy’s neck, but I looked a bit closer there.

Matching skin tones, a slight similarity in their jawlines and stylings (Obviously Water Tribe, likely of the Southern or Northern tribes), and identical blue eyes full of surprise and slight fear.

Siblings then, brother and sister, the concern was founded and reasonable. 

With a breath, the flames flickered away from my flesh and my body fell to a cool, the air itself washing away the flames from my form as I took a step back from the two.

Those beads… the cut of their robes.

Those were not the styles of any familiar Water Tribe of the past eras, but of a more recent variant of fashion. 

Fashionable and warm to match their frozen lands, but evidently things had changed. 

Diplomacy was more the game here, for I had no need to bring threats and aggression to a tribe of peaceful people.

“Yes. I refer to the Fire Lord, I must know where he is before he can rally his forces. You must help me get to the Fire Nation.” I asked of the two as kindly as I could considering the circumstances, but I will admit it came out as more of a demand than a plea.

The Avatar was the utmost figure of authority in the realm, and it was hard to deny that at times.

Passion was a value that I struggled to remember at times.

The two of them stared at me then in confusion, the boy even having his mouth agape in surprise, and I was sorely tempted to raid their minds for the answers they were loath to provide.

“Fire Lord Sozin is at the same place he’s been for the past eighty years… Buried on Ember Island…” The girl said then in a slow tone, and the world beneath my feet gave away as I felt a pressure in my chest build.

Sozin was… dead?

Impossible, we had fought over the Moon Palace just that morning, the skies had lit up with our flames as we did battle as few others did… But I was far from the palace, and it appears that things had happened far from out of my control… 

Fang seemed just as confused, his mighty head lowering to my side in comfort as I absentmindlessly found myself stroking the scales of his cheek, the heat of his form a comfort in the blistering frost. 

“What… what year is it?” I had to know, there was no way to recover from this loss without the knowledge of how long I had been gone, as it was evident I had been gone.

There was melted ice all around me and I felt a soreness in my flesh, a burn beneath my nerves as I flexed each of my muscles.

I had been thrown from Fang’s back during the fight, and it appears that I had fallen victim to the freezing waters… 

I pulled a Steve… 

“Ninety-nine A.G… After the Genocide… of your people.” The boy provided then as he lightly held aloft the spear, but then a blaze returned to his gaze. “Who are you though?! You’re a Firebender, aren’t you!? If you got back, you’d probably lead the Fire Nation right to us!” The boy’s cries were accompanied by droplets of spit, and it wasn’t quite the welcoming party I had hoped for upon this realization of mine, but I was free.

“Have a problem with Firebenders, do you?” I asked with a quirked brow then, deciding to see where this boy could take me in his anger, as it was more likely he would tell me of what I desired through rage rather than compliance. 

“Oh course we do! We’ve been at war with them for a hundred years!” He cried out as he raised the spear again, the tip an inch from my face as I felt the smallest drop of blood slither out from my flesh.

A crunch was heard promptly in the clearing, the storm having subsided as the sky cleared, and the brother was left holding a crushed stick. 

However, he was far from my thoughts… 

A war… for a hundred years… 

“Sozin’s war… He finally got it…” I whispered under my breath as I felt a sense of hollowness within me, for once in a long while, I had actually failed.

“How did you… do that?” The girl asked of me then, her eyes curious and frightened all the same as I looked at her again, rather than at the failed bravado of her brother.

Pulling myself from the mistakes of my most recent past, I saw an opportunity. 

“A question for a question perhaps, for I find myself at a loss. Your brother and yourself can ask me something, and in return you answer my own questions. Would that be fair?” I proposed to the girl, seeing as she was the clearer mind of the two and more likely to teach me of what I had missed in the world… 

The war had already been brewing in my time, the first years slow and drawn out, but it had truly begun heating up by the time I had… vanished.

If the war’s gone on for a hundred years… then, it’s been ninety seven years since I disappeared. 

A new era arrived without me. 

“We could… work with that.” The girl said then with a timid look, however I sensed more within her than her brother, a spark.

She was easily the more worthy of being watched out of them.

“Splendid.”

* * *

The two had introduced themselves without asking a question in turn, Sokka and Katara of the Southern Water Tribe.

I had only fleeting experience with their tribe in recent eras, only speaking to their Chieftain when I had been pursuing Sozin. 

Of course, I had been around since their tribe first learned to Waterbend, but I could keep that to myself for the time being.

It was their turn.

“What is your name?” Katara asked of me as I noted the interested look in her eyes, and the aggressive one in her brother’s. Mixed reception between them. 

“My name is Aang.” 

They took that well, the brother still upset at having to be in my presence, but his sister was equally as interested in me as I was in finding out what I wanted to know.

“My turn. What is the state of the Sun Warriors?” I asked of her then, my eyes only once flittering to my side, Fang’s warm body lazing against the snow as he slept soundly, the old boy not having the energy he once had.

“The Sun Warriors… I thought they went extinct?” 

And another shot through the heart…

The Sun Warrior tribe had been dear friends, having reconnected with them due to my memories of Roku, they had gladly taught me of the flame within, and pointed me in the direction of Fang.

He had never left my side since, and I wouldn't ask him to. 

“Fair enough… I believe that it’s your turn Katara.”

“No! I want to ask a question, what’s a Firebender doing in the South Pole? You got frozen, that’s obvious, but what were you doing here? Where'd you get a dragon?!” Her brother interjected then, impatient at being annoyed and likely having had the question lingering in his mind.

It was a valid question, but a harder one to answer. 

A part of me didn’t want to reveal I was the Avatar, as I had actually been killed before just for revealing my status, the time I had been sealed in time being a doozy… 

“It should be obvious, but I was following Sozin, with intent to kill him. Fang has been with me for some time. My turn,” I answered as I quickly changed the subject back to my side of the table, and where I was far more comfortable.

“Are you a Waterbender?” I asked Katara then, her eyes flying wild as I knew the serenity I felt from her wasn’t merely Empathy, but actually the calm and relentless stretch of the tides. 

She felt like a Waterbender, but she took a moment then to think, her brother showing some concern.

“I am… But now it’s my question, and you have to answer, right?” She asked of me then, my eyebrows furrowing as I faintly had an idea of what she’d ask me, but I had been surprised before.

The fact Sozin defeated me was proof of that.

“Of course, I gave my word.”

“Are you the Avatar?” She asked of me then, and I could only take a deep breath as she had read me like a book, or it might have been the fact that their history tomes said that I died fighting the Fire Lord, which was too much of a coincidence to ignore.

“I am. My name is Aang, of the Air Nomads. I am the one-hundred and eighty-second Avatar.” I said with no shame as the two of them devoured that information, Sokka’s face paling as he likely realized that he had threatened the Avatar.

It was… odd, the almost god worship I got from some people. 

I never enjoyed it. 

I sometimes wonder if people even remember Raava’s name, considering they only seem to praise me for doing as she asked. 

“Now then, I have one final question. As nice as this artic glacier is, I haven’t slept a proper night's sleep in about ninety years, could you take me to your village?” I asked of them then, as I did feel unnaturally tired, and a part of me was still sore. Muscles frozen for almost a century weren’t meant to thaw out and move instantly, I was shocked I could even stand, let alone think.

Frozen brains, not a good thought, or lack of thought in the worst case scenario. 

Katara seemed eager for some reason, yet her brother wasn’t as much. 

Perhaps it was his blatant hatred of the Fire Nation. 

I didn’t care much for it either, but having been a part of it more times than I could count, I couldn’t really hate it.

The Fire Lords, I could hate with utmost certainty, and if what Sokka had spouted was true about the new Fire Lord, Ozai was just like his grandfather… 

A threat.

“We’ll take you there,” Sokka began to agree then before his eyes grew sharp and filled with anger. “But if you try to get sneaky, I’ll make you regret it.”

“Child, I could melt you down to your base particles in a second.” I merely said in turn with disinterest, as he wasn’t terribly threatening.

I had killed gods, including Chuck, and had fought more demons and creatures than I could imagine.

A fifteen year old with a boomerang wasn’t impressive enough to fear.

“What’s a particles?” 

It was going to be a long trip…

* * *

**Ba Sing Se, The Earth Kingdom**

* * *

A cracked teacup sat resting on a dish, the water within infused with leaves as the colors turned to a dark green, earthy and serene in scent.

But spicy to the taste, just as he liked it and preferred. 

He had been here some time, had become a figure of sorts in their community, many knew of him, but not about him.

He barely spoke most days, the pain too unbearable to even try, but there were days that he would hum.

Nothing jovial, merely a sad tune he had heard once long ago, but from where?

He knew not.

It didn’t matter.

His name didn’t matter.

He didn’t matter.

And yet, he still lived in this hellish shade of agony, the world a color of pain that he had never imagined he’d see, the cup before his hands a sensation he would never feel.

He enjoyed tea, as only his taste had remained, the world senseless to him in every other way aside from stained sight.

He lived a nightmare each and every day, and the days kept getting longer and made of more suffering as it went by.

And he kept buying tea, and they kept coming to him.

Worried and concerned citizens, stilted husbands, heartbroken wives, even children at the odd hours and times.

He became not quite a shaman, more of a… fortune teller.

He was good with his cards, seeing what they held for whoever came to drink with him, their company being the price he asked of them, but they always ensured he had more than enough to survive.

A mother came to him this day, concerned over her son who had been taken by the Fire Nation, and he merely ushered in her in without a word.

“You’re… you’re him, aren’t you?” She asked with slight fear in her tone, but he had heard the trembles before, had seen the horror in a sane person’s eyes when they looked upon what he had become.

He just nodded, for he was the beast she had searched for. 

“I heard you tell futures… My little boy was taken by the Firebenders… can you tell me if he’ll return?” She asked of him then as he held her gaze for a second, his thoughts whirling at the idea.

He didn’t often use the cards to see the future or present of a person or being, normally only unrelated events would unfold in his deck. 

He couldn’t even count how many times he had pulled the Calm Well card when asked if the war would end. Calm waters without a ripple in them, a lack of movement in the tides, meaning no change.

He had lost hope long ago, and any chance of surviving this war had been stolen from him. 

Up for the challenge, he motioned for her to sit before him, a teacup already set out for her. 

He knew he would have company.

“His name is Sen, he’s not a Bender, but they took him anyway… Can you see if they’ll let him go?” She practically begged of him then, her tears staining her face as he merely held a palm up to calm her, his nod slow and steady.

He wished he could still cry sometimes, but he knew that luxury was no longer his.

With a calculating hover of his hand, he pulled free three separate cards from the pile and placed them before her, allowing her to reveal them.

The connection had to be made for the art to work.

She went one by one for him to look over, she not understanding their meanings or warnings.

The Frost Lord, the entity of ice and preservation. Usually his card meant that hard times were ahead, but it could also mean that something had been saved from the flames.

He motioned for the next card, and his curiosity was piqued, and a small part of him pleased.

The Extinguished Pyre, the end of a great flame or the ending of an era, he held his own thoughts of what that meant, and he dearly hoped he was correct.

And finally, the third card, the card of circumstance.

That which would align all the events of the future and explain their presence in the course of time.

And a pair of glowing white eyes stared back at him from the card face, and he knew instantly what the cards meant to tell both him and the mother.

She looked at it in shock, but she didn’t need him to tell her what it meant, as almost anyone knew what those inhuman eyes meant… 

The Avatar had returned. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, the world's a bit different, wanted to take things in a different direction.  
> Raoh is an interesting character that came about when creating this story.  
> I did alter the ages of some of the characters, and Aang is 15 here considering he escaped the Genocide rather than running away and accidently freezing himself.  
> Also, this story will not be Aang/Katara, I will never write Canon pairings unless it's for side characters.  
> Hope you all enjoyed  
> And my first day of my new job was good.  
> -Avatar Oscar


	3. To Be Known

**Life 95: Something Borrowed**

* * *

**Avatar: Kuruk**

**320 BG**

**The Spirit World**

* * *

What, was a face, in all senses?

The identity, the visage one knows best as they see it whenever their image returns, the one person they know best.

Themselves.

I had been surprised when I was born into this era, for I had expected a war or some great foe to darken the sun, one that I would have to vanquish.

Instead, my actions as Yangchen had been more effective than I had expected, and an era of great peace had come about.

And I had been horribly bored, being no better than a mentor or problem solver, and had grown tired of solving petty disputes.

I shifted the fates of worlds with my hands, destroyed civilizations and regimes, yet all that had remained for me to do here was sort out squabbling civilians.

So, with nothing to defeat or wars to end, I decided to do something I had never gotten the chance to before.

I decided to explore the world beyond the veil, the Spirit Realm, the dimension that I alone was the bridge to.

The Avatar was the link between the worlds, allowing me to traverse the Lanes-Between with ease, but it was not a pleasant experience.

The Spirit World was varied and annoying, for one venture could be peaceful and impactful, and another could be horrid and something akin to a nightmare.

Spirits varied just as their realm, and while I sometimes was reunited with the spirits of those I had once known long ago, other times I met the tortured and grotesque spirits of those I had once fought.

Warriors and murderers turned into horrible and ferocious beasts, monsters beyond creation.

And through my travels in the world beyond, I learned many things, and angered a great many beings.

Some secrets were never meant to be known…

Some spirits never wanted to be seen. 

Some never wanted to be known.

_“I know your face.”_

* * *

**Avatar: Aang**

**99 AG**

**The South Pole**

* * *

My mind was different as Raava’s chosen, my past fractured in ways that had taken so very long to get used to.

As Death’s Avatar, I kept the memories of every life that I lived, my experiences altered by what I had seen and learned.

My memories defined me, until eventually I began to forget, but they were a part of me that would never truly vanish.

Raava’s cycle was different.

I wasn’t ignorant, I knew the lives before this one. Roku, Wan, Kuruk, Yangchen, Kyoshi, I knew all their faces.

I knew their friends, their loves, their dreams and pains.

But I didn’t remember being them really, I could not remember the warmth of the sun on my island, I couldn’t remember the feel of Rangi’s lips on mine, nor could I remember why I separated the realms from each other.

I remembered everything that happened, but not why they did, or what I had felt at the time.

It was odd, almost like it was not me that had done all those things, like my past selves had all been their own people, despite the fact I knew they had been me.

The pain in their eyes in my visions told me as much, and I did all I could to avoid speaking to them.

And now, I had returned to a place I hadn’t seen in a century, the Southern Water Tribe.

Once a prosperous and peaceful people, now most of their people were off fighting a useless war against the Fire Nation, and those that stayed behind were paranoid and angry.

Sokka and Katara had offered me shelter, but had been quick to recommend a course of action.

They didn’t need to tell me that I shouldn’t share the fact that I had broken the Elemental Cycle, that I was a Firebender just as much an Airbender.

I already knew to keep the wick cool, to embrace the winds rather than the burning bonfire within, to appear not the man I was.

It was funny, that the Elements appealed so simply to emotion, those in tune with themselves finding themselves able to do wondrous or horrid things with their Bending.

Water appealed to those of empathy or affection, a cool and calming presence within their soul that called out for the cold brush of the waves.

Fire, vibrant and ever consuming. 

Like Fiendfyre, it took a great deal of focus, or endless rage, to control the mindless flames into a surgical blaze.

I had learned Firebending once upon a time through my hatred, my rage being the fuel that I needed to light the flame within my spirit, but over time I had learned better.

The Sun Warriors had taught of balance of the soul, of replacing burning rage with a detached composure, allowing flames to be an extension of the self.

But I had failed, and the rage I felt kept bringing the flames back out. 

I had been meant to stop Sozin, to bring peace once again, and I had hoped that it would be enough.

Sozin had never beaten me, not when we had been children, nor as men.

I felt myself capable enough of bringing an end to my corrupted former friend, and yet I was not even given the chance.

My time in the last era had ended before it could even begin.

“Aang, you hungry?” Sokka asked of me then, the boy looking in confusion at me as he held out a bowl of stew, my concentration fractured as I was drawn back to the living realm.

I had been within my spirit, using my absence of soul to peer through the edge of the veil and attempting… 

It was best to stay here for now, to focus on the present and move forward.

And I knew the next step, even if it wasn’t proper, but I had already broken tradition.

“Sokka, does your village have an elder?” I asked the boy without opening my eyes, my mind reaching out into the connections of the village, feeling the life threads of the beings around me as I could practically see Sokka before me, his gaze lingering on the wooden bowl he held aloft with desire. 

“Yes, but does that mean you don’t want your food? Katara insisted I get you some.” 

“You already stole the dumplings from it Sokka, so you might as well eat the rest.” I said with insight as I felt his dormant thoughts lingering in the air around us, not even an ounce of effort needed to see what had happened.

“Damn wizards…” Sokka muttered under his breath as my eyes shot open in surprise for a second, his doing the same.

“What?”

“What?”

Silence fell before I realized he was joking.

I was afraid I’d have to kill the boy for a second, but it was only a joke.

How fortunate.

For him.

* * *

“So… you are the mysterious Aang. My grandchildren speak much of you.” The elder said in a soft tone as I sat beside her, the weak fire before us blooming smoke as I brushed a chill along my nerves and stilled beside her.

“I suppose I am, but is that all that they told you?” I asked in turn as I sat motionless, the scent of herbs reaching me as I saw the crude kettle beside the fire, the elder tending to it as she produced a pair of wooden cups for the both of us.

“From your markings, I know you are an Air Nomad, but while they didn’t tell me initially, I know that you are the Avatar.” The Elder said in turn as I was only shocked at the revelation, but I froze for a second as a memory came unbidden, my approach to the village long ago when I had hunted Sozin, when the past Southern Elder had directed me to the Moon Palace.

And he had introduced me to his daughter… 

“You were there… When I went looking for revenge and your father guided me… you were there.” I said with some surprise then, as I had not expected to meet someone that knew me from the age before, but I saw this woman’s aged eyes, and they matched the infant that I had seen almost a century ago. 

“My father spoke of you often, he felt guilty. For so long we thought you had died, and my poor father was believed to be the man that got the Avatar killed… He blamed himself for so very long, but I have no doubt he would have been pleased to see you again Aang.” The Elder, Kanna, said with a softness I hadn’t expected as I let the soaring sound of the kettle purge away my regrets.

“I’m quite sorry, but I always believed that it is best to break tea before you allow reality to settle in, to a reunion neither of us expected.” Kanna said with a small grin as I held my cup aloft, a weary smile rising on my lips as I relaxed for the first time in ages.

This was nice.

“Now then, I don’t think you got yourself frozen just to have tea with me Avatar… This is about the Fire Nation, isn’t it?” She asked of me as I could only nod, visions of marching armies and Sozin’s heartless eyes flashing before me as I lost my breath.

“You know that I had fought against Sozin, his rise to power was all my fault, and he was my responsibility. I failed to stop him, your family was born into a relentless war because of my failure. Sozin might have escaped my grasp, but his grandson sits the throne. If I am to defeat him, I need to be taught.” I explained to her as I saw visions of myself then, mediation on my mind as I saw countless waves and countless teachers, shallow memories of every Water tutor I had ever had.

The element I had always struggled with the most.

_“One would think your blood was oil with how you struggle.”_

Kirima’s teaching style was definitely not one that I missed.

“So, you fail to defeat one Fire Lord due to impatience, and seek aid for his successor. A wise course of action, and bound to avoid repeating your history Avatar.” Elder Kanna said then as she stared into the depths of her cup, the tea itself rising into the air as it became forms oh so familiar.

Dragons made of tea flew through the air, the barely there figure of riders on them as one followed the other, until they fell from the air.

The tea all came crashing down to the ground, and we fell silent as I reflected on my past.

“I won’t fail again.”

“I know that you won’t, but only if you go North…” Kanna said cryptically then as I could only scoff in confusion. “I can not be the one to teach you.”

“But… why? You’re the Elder, and you’re a Waterbender, why shouldn’t you teach me?” I asked of her then, my mood souring as I couldn’t understand her reasoning.

Why go North to learn what I could learn right here?

“When one lives for as long as I have, you hear whispers on the wind. I know things I should have never learned, but of those whispered words, I know that you will perish if I am your mentor.” Kanna said then with absolute confidence, her gaze hard as her smile faltered, and I instantly knew that she was telling the truth.

A deep feeling of wrongness had settled within me, and I knew it was this village.

I had felt it since we arrived, but I assumed it was merely because I was in a new era and angry at myself.

No, there was a deep feeling of wrong here.

“Then I shall travel North.” I said with a nod to her as I meant to go, but her hand stopped me in my tracks.

“I know of the hardships you carry Avatar. For now, allow us to relieve you of them. Your adventure can wait.” She said to me sagely as I thought better than to argue, acknowledging that perhaps there may be mereit to staying among them for now.

“As you wish, Elder.” 

“None of that. You may be older than me, but call me Gran-Gran.”

* * *

**Aboard the Terasu**

* * *

“You’re quiet Iroh, one would think you would be full of pride. We have finally found the Avatar.” Raoh said diplomatically as the two sat together in his quarters, the ship on course for the Southern Water Tribe, for surely they had seen the light of the Avatar.

Both men knew the Waterbenders would be harboring the Avatar, but they didn’t need to say it.

“I hold a different view of the Avatar than most, Raoh, as you should know.” Iroh said curtly as he began to look through those cards of his, the man seemingly to believe that all he needed to know was printed on them.

“Why do you look to your cards for wisdom, Iroh?” Raoh said then as his mind wandered, the image of a card set before him catching his eye so softly.

The image of a solder with a backwards head stared back at him, but he wasn’t like Iroh, who knew the meaning of all of them.

“Long ago, a dear friend spoke to me, and told me of the real magic in this world. He said that if I follow the path that fate sets at my feet, then I will never hold regrets.” Iroh said with a small smile then as Raoh took the card into his palm, the printed face of the man almost in agony as he tried in vain to turn his head back the proper way.

“Your friend sounds like a wise man Iroh.” Raoh muttered back at him, something so alluring in the card stealing his eyes away from the world as the sea around them stilled to a calm.

“I should hope that he was, for an idiot would not make a very good Avatar.”

* * *

_“Your silence is troubling.”_

Draconian, a language older than any other, spoken by the first sons of the flames and taught only to those wise enough to understand their purpose.

Fang had taught me his people’s tongue long ago, I being one of the few remaining in this world that could understand him, and he took great pleasure in insulting humans in a way none of them could understand.

 _“I am shaken, Fang. Not only did I fail to stop Sozin, now any chance of it has been taken from me… Almost a hundred years, we’ve been frozen because of my mistakes.”_ I said with a huff then as a flicker of flame left my breath, my eyes swaying as I felt exhaustion within my spirit.

 _“You lay the blame for your failure at your feet Aang, and yet it was I that fell from the sky, it was my fall that doomed us both to the ice. We failed together Avatar, and now we live on to correct our mistakes.”_ Fang growled out sagely as I lay against his scales, the setting sun of the south shining upon us with not an inch of warmth in this frozen land.

Two flames resting within the tundra. 

_“I need to become Fully Realized. I think Raava got pissed that I cut the process short, that I tried to fight Sozin without the full arsenal. Who knows, perhaps I would have lost that fight, we’ll never know.”_ I spoke back to my familiar as we felt the ice beneath us soften, but it held firm as the village turned to night slowly and many villagers stared our way in concern.

It wasn’t often that a dragon was seen in the South Pole after all. 

_“The water children, do you trust them?”_

And of course Fang cuts right to the heart of my conflicts, and draws out my thoughts like a siphon for my emotions.

_“The girl, Katara, could be useful. She’s been awaiting my return her entire life, but hopefully her desire for justice is not obsession.”_

Fang only let out a booming and comical yawn then as I settled further into his side, the clasps of his saddle just hanging to my side. 

_“And the boy?”_

I could only groan then as my eyes fell shut, annoyance licking across my teeth.

_“He’s a good kid, heart’s in the right place, but he’s got some respect issues and a whole lot of bias...”_

_“You believe he will turn on you, since you are more Fire than Air.”_ Fang said in turn then as I met his golden gaze, and nodded slowly and carefully, as the dragon was indeed right.

I felt the stirrings of hatred in Sokka’s heart, and I did not desire to advance them.

Hate and rage did horrible things to a person’s soul, if not outright destroying it.

An innocent could not be allowed to be twisted by their hate again, I would not accept it. 

_“I have an inkling of a plan Fang, but it will need to be dormant. Sokka will overlook my attributes, and I believe he shall grow from his flaws.”_ I said to my friend with confidence then, but I felt none of it.

Oh sure, I could invade Sokka’s mind, enforce a sense of calm within him that would solve all of my issues with him.

But that wouldn’t be him anymore, as soon as I bent his mind to my control, he would be an extension of myself.

I would not be a controller of men, never again. 

_“And if your plan fails? If the boy falls to Vaatu’s influence?”_

If Sokka grew dark and malicious, Fang meant.

I once would not have even entertained the thought, so confident that I could sway him to the right path.

But I had faced failures that I never imagined, failed where I had thought myself foolproof.

I could not allow my arrogance to ruin yet another era of innocents.

_“Then there will be nothing that can be done for him, but I shall try.”_

_“That is why I favor you Aang, for even when faced with threats, you think of compassion.”_ Fang said with a hint of a smile on his giant jaws, but I could only look away from my friend with a growing frown on my lips. 

I didn’t always.

_“Thanks Fang.”_

For believing me to be better than I actually am. 


End file.
